From: MPetrelis@aol.com
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 11:19:16 EDT
Subject: Fwd: (fwd) Philly PWA complains about Geneva confab junkets
From: Infreader@aol.com
Subject: (fwd) TPAC expels PWA who complained of Geneva junket (selected article)
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 08:44:26 EDT
Subj: fastfax #195 9/18/98 [ Fwd. - Selected article ]
Date: 98-09-17 23:36:27 EDT
From: wtp@CritPath.Org (We The People)
*******************************************************
FASTFAX #195, September 18, 1998
published by We The People Living with AIDS/HIV of the
Delaware Valley, Inc.
[http://www.critpath.org/wtp]
*******************************************************
News That Matters to People Living with HIV/AIDS
*******************************************************
In this issue:
AACO tells state it opposes name reporting
PWA gets hospice care after protest
[===>]TPAC expels PWA who complained of Geneva junket
GALAEI sponsors Geneva forum for Latinos
Report confirms extensive hunger in Philadelphia
Mother wins right to withhold AIDS treatment from son
Circle of Care offers family conference
*******************************************************
FASTFAX is available by fax in the 215 and 610 area codes at no cost, by
mail anywhere for 20.00 per year, by calling 215-545-6868, and on our web
page, http://www.critpath.org/wtp. If you receive duplicate copies by
E-mail, or wish to be removed from this mailing list, contact
wtp@critpath.org and type the message REMOVE in the message section.
Sources for some information in this issue include Kaiser Daily Health
Reports, Philadelphia Gay News, Reuters.
********************************************************
TPAC EXPELS PWA WHO COMPLAINED OF GENEVA JUNKET
Mick Maurer, a Bucks County person living with AIDS who has been a leading
advocate for stronger investment of local AIDS funds in services for
suburban PWAs, was expelled from the board of directors of The Philadelphia
AIDS Consortium (TPAC) in September after complaining that the organization
had spent too much money on sending staff and board members to the Geneva
international AIDS conference in July.
TPAC is responsible for allocating close to $5 million of state AIDS
funding and money awarded to the southeastern Pennsylvania region under
Title II of the Ryan White CARE Act. Maurer also serves as co-chair of the
Philadelphia HIV Commission, which allocates almost $14 million in Title I
funding for southeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey.
TPAC board president Blair Durant told the Philadelphia Gay News that
Maurer was removed by a unanimous vote of TPAC board members present for
violating Roberts Rules of Order by revealing how much TPAC had spent on
the Geneva trips. She said that Maurer had obtained the information at an
August closed session of the TPAC board and should not have publicized the
data until it was publicly released on September 8th. Ten of TPAC's
sixteen board members were present at the board meeting, eight of whom are
identified as "consumers" under the TPAC by-laws, according to Larry
Hochendoner, TPAC executive director.
Durant had no explanation for why TPAC, which is mandated by the state to
be publicly accountable for its use of federal and state funds, had
excluded the public from the August meeting in the first place.
Durant was also among the board members who received funding from TPAC for
the Geneva trip.
Maurer was not present at the September 8th board meeting at which he was
removed, and was unaware that his continued membership on the board would
be an issue at the meeting. He is recovering from a head injury, according
to PGN. He told fastfax that he still has not been formally informed of
his removal from the board, and ironically, heard about it first from the
PGN reporter.
After initially claiming that Maurer's August report on the amount of
funding TPAC had spent on Geneva was inaccurate, a formal report on
September 8th confirmed that the organization spent over $14,500 on the
trips. Several TPAC board members who attended at the expense of TPAC left
the conference early to tour Europe, according to PGN.
"If [Maurer] had a problem with TPAC, he should have brought it to the
board first, before going to the press," Durant told PGN. "There are trust
issues involved here. Mick has not acted in the best interested of the
board."
Several PWA board members who were not present at the September 8th
meeting said that Durant, who is not HIV+, had her priorities wrong. They
spoke to fastfax on condition of anonymity, since the board also voted on
September 8th that no board member was authorized to speak on the issue
except for Durant.
"It seems to me that everybody has a right to know what TPAC does with
public money," said one PWA. "Blair's more worried about how the board
looks and covering up our problems than she is in letting PWAs have some
say over what happens."
Another board member criticized TPAC for "claiming that it has this great
PWA empowerment process going on while forcing out a PWA who simply
expressed an opinion they didn't like."
"I don't understand how a board of directors comprised of a majority of
people living with AIDS could punish one of our own simply for speaking the
truth," said Rob Capone, We The People's interim executive director. "It's
really ironic that we fought so long to make TPAC a consumer body
representative of the epidemic so that we could ensure accountability, and
when one attempts to do so he is ousted by his peers. "
Capone also expressed concern over the fact that Maurer wasn't given a
chance to defend himself, and at the severity of the action taken by the
board. He asked, "Is it standard practice to remove a board member for one
mistake, without even giving him a chance to explain himself? If [Maurer]
did violate parliamentary procedures, and this was his first such breach of
the rules, is removal a reasonable response? Something's wrong with this
picture."
Maurer was circumspect on TPAC's action, according to PGN. "I think it's
really dirty the way they did this, without even giving me a chance to
defend myself," he said. "The budget item related to the conference should
be available to the public; it shouldn't have been discussed in closed
session. I'm just trying to keep the organization honest and accountable."
"I've challenged TPAC on other issues in the past, including their overall
funding priorities," continued Maurer, who has complained to state
officials at what he thinks is inadequate attention by TPAC to the needs of
suburban Philadelphia PWAs.
"They've been looking for an excuse to get rid of me for a while. Now
they think they've found something."
Maurer is not the first TPAC board member to complain that the
organization retaliates against those who differ with its policies.
Michael Hinson, executive director of The Colours Organization, which was
denied funding for its case management and HIV prevention activities by
TPAC earlier this year, said at the time that he believed the action was
related to his long-time criticism of TPAC's financial management.
Other than brief statements by Geneva attenders at the September 8th board
meeting, TPAC has not held any public events so that those it sent to the
Geneva conference could report back to the community on what they learned.
Hochendoner, when asked if the Maurer decision would have a chilling
effect on consumers who speak out on AIDS issues at TPAC, said he didn't
think so.
"I believe every board member feels free to speak their mind and express
the truth as they see it. I have great respect for the autonomy and
independence of this conflict free board."
Blair had not responded to a fastfax request for comment by press time.
==========================================================